Storage and feeding rack or shelf for refrigerated beverage containers



1/1962 Parker.........................

United States Patent Ora Lee Miner Santa Ana, California [21] App]. No.807,676

March 17, 1969 [45] Patented Nov. 24, 1970 John Kllssen Midway City,California [72] inventor [22] Filed [73] Assignee ABSTRACT: A storageand feeding rack or shelf for refrigerated beverage containers, such assix-packs of beer and soft drinks. The rack is adapted to be mountedhorizontaliy in a refrigerator in a supermarket, liquor store, etc.incorporated in the rack' are rail means which are spaced apart thedistance between edge portions of a six-pack, for example, so that suchrail means prevent the six-packs from cocking during forward movementtoward the customer in response to actuation by spring-reel devices.Such devices include spring reels mounted on the forward portion of therack, and which are connected through cords to clip members adapted toseat behind a row of six-packs in order to actuate the same forwardly.In addition, the clip members are adapted to hook over the inner edgeportions of the rack during loading by a stacker at the grocery orliquor store.

uw n awwww R MW H NUHHH 1 1 1111] ms 32222 F A 9 LM mm m W A m m RM m mm m m m m m cc o AE e RG n" "M u GM MS mu... m m E m m m M T 0 mm m m ma a um E n Tm b m m m m m mmw c m R m sHsHh N mh in r mwwnuw n mm uwwwwwmmm m J wuuwu o a hm 996Wn SR7 U .mF MWWMHOQM 1 1 ll 1 umnmu 1 STORAGE'AND FEEDING RACK OR SHELF FOR REFRIGERATED BEVERAGE CONTAINERSBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to the field of storage devices adapted automatically to effectforward feeding of a row of refrigerated beverage or food containers inresponse to removal of the forward ones of such containers by acustomer.

2. Description of the Prior Art Storage devices which feed food andmerchandise forwardly have previously been devised, for example astaught by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,750,049; 2,893,596; 3,018,149; 3,083,067; and3,104,137. However, such apparatus was characterized by various defectsincluding, particularly when the beverages or merchandise were heavy,the need for inclined shelves instead of horizontal shelves. It isemphasized that inclined shelves may not be sold as replacementshelvesfor the numerous shelves now present in the refrigerators in liquorstores and supermarkets throughout the country, unless suchrefrigerators are largely rebuilt in a manner which is not economic.

The prior-art apparatus was also characterized by difficulty ofoperation, high cost of construction and installation, etc. A primarydefect of prior-art storage devices was that the amount of space takenup in the refrigerator was excessive, particularly at regions adjacentthe front doors where display space is of the essence.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a horizontalshelf or rack for refrigerated containers such as milk bottles, popbottles, or six-packs of beer or beer or soft drinks, the shelfincluding rail. means to guide the containers during forward actuation.

Mounted at the forward portion of the shelf (relatively 'adjacent thecustomer) are a plurality of spring-reel devices. A cord extendsrearwardly from each such device to a clip member adapted to be seatedat the inner end of a row of containers. The clip member is also adaptedto hook over the rear edge of the shelf during periods when the shelf isbeing loaded by an attendant. Only one spring reel is required for eachrow of containers, such reel being mounted beneath the forward portionof the shelf and in a horizontal plane so that aminimum of space isconsumed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION Stated generally,and referring particularly. to FIG. 1, the storage shelf or rackcomprises a braced support or subframe 10 including a rectangularperimeter element 11 and various brace elements 12. Such subframe 10 isadapted to be mounted in a commercial refrigerator, etc., as areplacement for the frames now present therein.

Secured to the upper portion of the subframe 10 is a slide, stop andrail means 13, the manner of attaching being, for example, by spotwelding. The means 13 incorporates a substantial number of parallelslide rods or bars 14 adapted to support six-packs (or eight-packs) 15of beer or soft drinks while creating a minimum of friction. Rods orbars 14 may also be adapted to slidably support individual bottles orcans of beverages, milk, food, etc.

.rail rods 16 which are parallel to each other, and parallel to sliderods 14, being spaced apart sufficiently far that edge portions ofsix-packs 15 will nest therebetween. For example, the two rail rods 16aand 16b shown in FIG. 3 are spaced suffciently far apart that the firstrow 17 of six-packs 15 will nest between such rails 16a and 1619 insteadof being supported thereon. All support for the row 17 is providedinstead by the slide rods 14a, 14b and 14c which are arranged betweenrails 16a and 16b and parallel thereto. Thus, rails 16a and 16b preventcocking of any individual six-pack 15 in such row 17. Correspondingly,the remaining two rows 18 and 19 (FIG. 2) of six-packs incorporate sliderods and rail rods corresponding to those described in detail above.

- Where individual bottles or cans are to be supported, the rail rodsare disposed much closer to each other than in the illustratedembodiment.

In addition to the slide rods 14 and rail rods 16, the means 13comprises forward and rear transverse rods 21 and 22 which are secured(as by spot welding) to'the ends of the rods 14 and 16. The forwardtransverse rod 21 is disposed above slide rods 14 and is adapted to actas a stop for the front end of each six-pack row 17-19. The reartransverse rod 22, also mounted above the slide rods, is adapted toserve as a support for clip members 23 (described hereinafter) duringloading of the shelf with the six-packs 15.

The rail rods 16 are secured to the upper edges of transverse rods 21and 22, in contrast to the slide rods 14 which are secured to the loweredges of such rods. The central portions of the rail rods (or other railor guide elements) may be caused to be spaced-substantial distancesabove the slide rods.

A plurality of spring-biased reel assemblies 25 are provided, one foreach of the three rows 17-19. As best shown in FIG. 5, each assembly 25comprises a generally disc-shaped housing 26 (resembling a shallow cup)which is suitably secured to a support plate 27, the latter beingmounted (as by welding) on slide rods 14 toward the forward end of eachrow.

Included in each housing 26 is a spring-biased reel 27a adapted to exerta constant pressure tending to wind thereon a cord 28 which extendsthrough an opening in the housing 26 and is connected to a centerportion of an associated transverse or clip member 23. The axis of reel27a is vertical. The reel 27a is biased by a suitable spring strip woundin a spiral, one end of the spring being suitably anchored and the otherend being connected to the reel 27a. The reel assemblies may be in'accordance with one or more of U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,128,007; 2,256,205;2,304,175; 2,304,176; and 2,450,078.

The shallow housings 23 are mounted in a horizontal plane, and beneaththeslide rods 14. Sliding of the containers is therefore not interferedwith. Furthermore, and very importantly, display and storage space atthe front of the refrigerator is conserved.

Each cord 28 extends above the brace elements 12 of the subframe, thuspermitting the transverse or clip members 23 to be extended back to therear transverse rod 22 as illustrated in FIG. 1 at the upper portionthereof.

Transverse or clip members 23 are preferably channel elements and areadapted to hook over the rear transverse rod 22, as illustrated, duringloading of the shelf with six-packs 15. After a row 17-19 of six-packsis disposed on the shelf, one row between each set of rail rods 16, theoperator unhooks the associated transverse member 23 from rod 22 andpermits such member 23 to engage the rear surface of the rearmostsix-pack 15.

The tension created by the spring-biased reel 27a in the cord 28 thenpulls thesix-pack row forwardly until the forward surface of the frontsix-pack 15 engages the stop transverse rod 21. When a customer removesthe front six-pack in any row, the reel operates through cord 28 andtransverse member 23 to pull the remaining six-packs in the rowforwardly until the stop transverse rod 21 is again engaged.

The present storage shelf or rack has been found to be highlysatisfactory in actual operation, despite the fact that the six-packs 15are relatively heavyand despite the fact that the shelf is not inclined.The amount of beverage containers which can be stored and displayed in aparticular refrigerator is substantially increased by use of the presentinvention. Very importantly, beverage containers are always close to thecustomer, where he can readily see and remove them.

lclaim:

1. A storage and feeding shelf for refrigerated beverage containers andthe like, which comprises:

a horizontal shelf adapted to slidably support the containers to bestored and fed, first and second rails mounted fixedly on said shelf,said rails being parallel to each other and being spaced apart adistance generally correspond ing to a horizontal dimension of thecontainers to be fed;

a spring-biased cord reel mounted on said rack relatively adjacent theforward edge portion thereof, said reel being disposed on the undersideof said shelf whereby to prevent interference with movement ofcontainers thereover, said reel being disposed generally in a horizontalplane with the axis of said reel generally vertical;

:1 container-engaging actuating element connected to the end of the cordon said reel, said actuating element being adapted to be seated on thecontainer farthest from said forward edge portion of said shelf wherebyto urge said containers forwardly in response to the tension created bysaid reel;

stop means at said forward edge portion of said shelf to preventexcessive forward movement of the containers thereon; and

means at the rear edge portion of said shelf and adapted to cooperatewith said actuating element to hold the latter adjacent said rearportion during loading of said shelf with containers.

2. The invention as claimed in claim 1, inwhich said actuating elementis a hook adapted to hook over the rear edge portion of said shelf tothus effect said holding of said hook adjacent said rear edge portionduring loading of said shelf with containers,

3. The invention as claimed in claim l, in which said rails are spacedapart sufficiently far to receive therebetween sixpacks of beer or thelike, a horizontal dimension of each of said six-packs being onlyslightly less that the spacing between said rails.

4. The invention as claimed in claim 1, in which at least part of saidreel is between said rails.

5. The invention as claimed in claim 1, in which said shelf includesspaced and parallel slide rods to slidably support said containers.

6. The invention as claimed in claim l, in which a plurality of rails,reels, etc., are disposed side by side in order to store and feedparallel rows of beverage containers.

7. The invention as claimed in claim 1, in which said stop means at saidforward portion of said shelf comprises a front edge element of saidshelf. 7

